A few weeks ago I pointed out that overall traffic fatalities both
in our state and nationally declined last year, but at the same time pedestrian
and cyclist fatalities have increased. In Washington we’ve had an increase in
pedestrian and cyclist-involved crashes, but even more concerning is that
pedestrians are dying at a higher rate. In case you missed the previous column,
here’s a quick refresher on the data: In 2013 we had 3118 crashes involving
pedestrians and cyclists, resulting in 63 fatalities. Last year we had 3718
pedestrian/cyclist-involved crashes, resulting in 120 fatalities. That’s a 19
percent increase in crashes, but a 90 percent increase in fatalities.
I don’t have a good answer for why vehicle/pedestrian crashes have
increased, but as I mentioned previously, there is some evidence for why the
fatality rate has shot up. And right now I’m about to alienate about 43 percent
of my audience. A big reason for the increase in pedestrian fatalities can be
blamed on SUVs and pickups. Don’t take this personally; I’m not accusing owners
of SUVs and pickups (or what the industry calls light trucks) of being worse
drivers. Crash rates for SUVs and cars are about the same. The problem lies in
what happens to a pedestrian in a crash.
Before we get to crash mechanics, let’s look at how things have changed
on the road. SUVs have been available for decades, but early on, unless you
were the in military, a rancher, or were hauling a crew to a job site, you
probably didn’t drive one. It wasn’t until the 1990s that SUV sales really took
off. And as recently as 2013, car and SUV sales were split 50/50. That has
obviously changed. In roughly the same timeframe as we saw a 90 percent increase
in pedestrian and cyclist fatalities, the percentage of SUVs
on the road increased from 32 percent to 43 percent. That trend continues
in 2019, with 70 percent of vehicle sales going to SUVs and pickups.
Back when light trucks made up about a third of the vehicle fleet,
the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration looked at pedestrian-involved
crashes and found that about one third of pedestrians were struck by SUVs and
pickups, suggesting that driving a light truck doesn’t affect the likelihood of
crashing into a pedestrian. But when they looked at crashes involving pedestrian
fatalities, SUVs and pickups took a 40 percent share. After their analysis of
12 independent injury studies, NHTSA concluded that pedestrians are two to
three times more likely to die if struck by a light truck compared to a car.
The reason is staring us in the face. The tall, blunt nose of an
SUV or pickup results in a different mechanism of injury than the low sloping
hood of a car. To put it rather crudely, if you get hit by a car you’ll
probably land on the hood, but if you’re hit by an SUV you’ve got a better
chance of being knocked down and run over.
Even if you’re not run over, the point of impact is critical to survival. The lower front end of a car results in leg injuries to pedestrians (still a potentially serious injury) while the taller grill of an SUV or pickup impacts a human in the torso, where we keep many of the organs necessary for our survival. For the visual learners out there, here’s an average sized human standing between a Chevy Spark and a Chevy Suburban (I selected these vehicles for no particular reason other than they represent opposite ends of one manufacturer’s lineup):
I’m not writing this to vilify SUVs or their owners. We all have our reasons for our choice of vehicle. We just have to recognize that our choices have consequences; some good and some not-so-good. You might choose an SUV because the higher seating position increases your visibility (good) even though a taller vehicle is more prone to roll-over crashes (not-so-good). Given the increase in pedestrian fatalities, it’s important that as we chose the vehicle we drive, and how we drive it, we remember to consider our impact to pedestrians.